ELIC
Place Louis Pasteur 3/L4.03.08
1348 Louvain-la-Neuve
Veerle Vanacker
Professeure ordinaire
- Diploma
Year Label Educational Organization 1996 Candidature en Géographie Katholieke Universiteit Leuven 1998 Licencié en Géographie Katholieke Universiteit Leuven 2002 Docteur en Géographie Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
The surface of the Earth is rapidly changing, largely in response to anthropogenic perturbation. We now realize that almost half of the land surface on Earth has been transformed by human activity, including vast and sometimes devastating transformations of soils. With the human population doubling to about 10 million people in 50 yr, there is a growing concern about soil resilience and sustainable development.
We are focusing on the following two research questions:
1. What are the impact and feedback mechanisms of human activities on land degradation?
Land use modification and conversion by human activities have large impacts on ecosystem functions, such as biogeochemical cycles, biological diversity and natural hazards and risks. Human-induced land use has accelerated soil erosion and increased sediment transport by large rivers. Various field studies have documented that mean rates of soil loss on agricultural plots may exceed the rates of soil formation by as much as an order of magnitude. Tropical mountain areas in particular are undergoing rapid soil erosion, which is currently limiting their agricultural growth potential. Notwithstanding the growing number of field studies on the effect of land use change on erosion rates, quantitative information on the importance of humans as agents of mountain erosion is scarce. Modern elevated sediment fluxes in tropical mountain areas are commonly attributed to improper land management, although natural process rates may be high due to steep slopes, tectonic activity, and the erosive climate.
We aim to better understand the role of human activities on the sediment cycle in mountainous regions. Using new geochemical methods such as in-situ produced cosmogenic nuclides, we are able to quantify natural erosion benchmarks. These measures allow us to quantify the impact of human activities on sediment fluxes . Furthermore, we are highly interested in the link between land use and degradation. For various pathways of land use change, we are working on specific hypotheses that allow us to better understand the causes and consequences of degradation in anthropogenic landscapes.
2. Can we predict geological denudation rates from landscape morphology?
Topographic variables are often used as surrogates for inferring landscape processes. Landscape evolution models commonly predict erosion rates based on a simple linear functional relation between erosion rates and hillslope morphology. This classic assumption that the rate of erosional processes depends on terrain steepness, measured as mean local relief or mean slope gradient, has recently been challenged for steep terrain.
Relief evolution in threshold landscapes is strongly dependent on the fluvial network that sets the local base level for hillslope processes. In contrast to the slopes, the fluvial network is directly coupled to the basin outlet, and keeps consistently track of any change in tectonic or climatic forcing by changing its bed morphology, channel width and gradient. At the moment, the extent to which basin-wide denudation rates can directly be inferred from slope and channel morphology is still difficult to evaluate. More quantitative data on basin-wide denudation rates for tectonically active topographic ranges are necessary to establish such relationships.
We are focusing on regions that are representative for different tectonic domains: the Ardennes-Rhenish Massif and Campine Plateau (Belgium), and the Northern Andes (Ecuador). We specifically analyse spatial patterns in erosion and river incision rates in relation to regional tectonic differentiation patterns.
2024
Paque, Rose ; Alomia Herrera, Ilia ; Dixon, Jean ; Molina Verdugo, Armando ; Zehetner, Franz ; Vanacker, Veerle. Constraining the Effect of Climate and Rock Porosity on Weathering Extent in the Volcanic Island of Santa Cruz (Galápagos, Ecuador). In: Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, (2024) (Soumis).
2024
Li, Yanfei ; Henrion, Maud ; Moore, Angus ; Lambot, Sébastien ; Opfergelt, Sophie ; Vanacker, Veerle ; Jonard, François ; Van Oost, Kristof. Factors controlling peat soil thickness and carbon storage in temperate peatlands based on UAV high-resolution remote sensing. In: Geoderma, Vol. 449, p. 117009 (2024). doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2024.117009.
2024
Henrion, Maud ; Li, Yanfei ; Koganti, Triven ; Bechtold, Michel ; Jonard, François ; Opfergelt, Sophie ; Vanacker, Veerle ; Van Oost, Kristof ; Lambot, Sébastien. Mapping and monitoring peatlands in the Belgian Hautes Fagnes: Insights from Ground-penetrating radar and Electromagnetic induction characterization. In: Geoderma Regional, Vol. 37, p. e00795 (2024). doi:10.1016/j.geodrs.2024.e00795.
2024
Escobar-González, Diego ; Villacís, Marcos ; Páez-Bimos, Sebastián ; Jácome, Gabriel ; González-Vergara, Juan ; Encalada, Claudia ; Vanacker, Veerle. Soil Moisture Forecast Using Transfer Learning: An Application in the High Tropical Andes. In: Water, Vol. 16, no.6, p. 832 (2024). doi:10.3390/w16060832.
2024
Molina Verdugo, Armando ; Vanacker, Veerle ; Chadwick, Oliver ; Zhiminaicela, Santiago ; Corre, Marife ; Veldkamp, Edzo. Vegetation control on nutrient availability and supply in high-elevation tropical Andean ecosystems. In: Biogeosciences, Vol. 21, no. 12, p. 3075 - 3091 (2024). doi:10.5194/bg-21-3075-2024.
2023
Rosas Barturen, Miluska Anthuanet ; Clapuyt, François ; Viveen, Willem ; Vanacker, Veerle. Quantifying geomorphic change in Andean river valleys using UAV-PPK-SfM techniques: An example from the western Peruvian Andes. In: Geomorphology, Vol. 435, no.435, p. 108766 (2023). doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2023.108766.
2023
Páez Bimos, Carlos ; Molina Verdugo, Armando ; Calispa, Marlon ; Delmelle, Pierre ; Lahuatte, Braulio ; Villacís, Marcos ; Muñoz, Teresa ; Vanacker, Veerle. Soil–vegetation–water interactions controlling solute flow and chemical weathering in volcanic ash soils of the high Andes. In: Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, Vol. 27, no.7, p. 1507-1529 (2023). doi:10.5194/hess-27-1507-2023-supplement.
2023
Rosas Barturen, Miluska Anthuanet ; Viveen, W. ; Vanacker, Veerle. Spatial variation in specific sediment yield along the Peruvian western Andes. In: Catena, Vol. 220, no.220, p. 106699 (2023). doi:10.1016/j.catena.2022.106699.
2023
Brosens, Liesa ; Cox, Rónadh ; Campforts, Benjamin ; Jacobs, Liesbet ; Vanacker, Veerle ; Bierman, Paul ; Razanamahandry, Vao Fenotiana ; Rakotondrazafy, Amos Fety Michel ; Razafimbelo, Tantely ; Rafolisy, Tovonarivo ; Govers, Gerard. The slow downwearing of Madagascar: Inferring patterns and controls on long‐term basin‐averaged erosion rates from in situ 10Be at the catchment and regional level. In: Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, , p. 1-18 (2023). doi:10.1002/esp.5586.
2022
Vandermaelen, Nathan ; Beerten, Koen ; Clapuyt, François ; Christl, Marcus ; Vanacker, Veerle. Constraining the aggradation mode of Pleistocene river deposits based on cosmogenic radionuclide depth profiles and numerical modelling. In: GChron, Vol. 4, p. 713-730 (2022). doi:10.5194/gchron-4-713-2022.
2022
Lahuatte, B. ; Mosquera, G.M. ; Páez Bimos, Carlos ; Calispa, Marlon ; Vanacker, Veerle ; Zapata-Ríos, X. ; Muñoz, T. ; Crespo, P.. Delineation of water flow paths in a tropical Andean headwater catchment with deep soils and permeable bedrock. In: Hydrological Processes, Vol. 36, no.10, p. e14725 (2022). doi:10.1002/hyp.14725.
2022
Gobbi, Beatriz ; Van Rompaey, A. ; Gasparri, N.I. ; Vanacker, Veerle. Forest degradation in the Dry Chaco: A detection based on 3D canopy reconstruction from UAV-SfM techniques. In: Forest Ecology and Management, Vol. 526, no.526, p. 120554 (2022). doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2022.120554.
2022
Viveen, W. ; Sanjurjo-Sanchez, J. ; Rosas Barturen, Miluska Anthuanet ; Vanacker, Veerle ; Villegas-Lanza, J.C.. Heinrich events and tectonic uplift as possible drivers for late Quaternary fluvial dynamics in the western Peruvian Andes. In: Global and Planetary Change, Vol. 218, no.218, p. 103972 (2022). doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2022.103972.
2022
Alomia Herrera, Ilia Mercedes ; Paque, Rose ; Maertens, Michiel ; Vanacker, Veerle. History of Land Cover Change on Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos. In: Land, Vol. 11, no.7, p. 1017 (2022). doi:10.3390/land11071017.
2022
Vincent, Frederike ; Maertens, Michiel ; Bechtold, Michel ; Jobbagy, Esteban ; Reichle, Rolf H. ; Vanacker, Veerle ; Vrugt, Jasper A. ; Wigneron, Jean-Pierre ; De Lannoy, Gabrielle J. M.. L-Band Microwave Satellite Data and Model Simulations Over the Dry Chaco to Estimate Soil Moisture, Soil Temperature, Vegetation, and Soil Salinity. In: IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, Vol. 15, p. 6598-6614 (2022). doi:10.1109/jstars.2022.3193636.
2022
Vandermaelen, Nathan ; Vanacker, Veerle ; Clapuyt, François ; Christl, Marcus ; Beerten, Koen. Reconstructing the depositional history of Pleistocene fluvial deposits based on grain size, elemental geochemistry and in-situ 10Be data. In: Geomorphology, Vol. 402, no.108127, p. 108127 (2022). doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2022.108127.
2022
Maertens, Michiel ; De Lannoy, Gabriëlle J.M. ; Vincent, Frederike ; Massart, Samuel ; Giménez, Raul ; Houspanossian, Javier ; Gasparri, Ignacio ; Vanacker, Veerle. Spatial patterns of soil salinity in the central Argentinean Dry Chaco. In: Anthropocene, Vol. 37, no.37, p. 100322 (2022). doi:10.1016/j.ancene.2022.100322.
2022
Vanacker, Veerle ; Molina Verdugo, Armando ; Rosas Barturen, Miluska ; Bonnesoeur, V. ; Román-Dañobeytia, F. ; Ochoa-Tocachi, B.F. ; Buytaert, W.. The effect of natural infrastructure on water erosion mitigation in the Andes. In: SOIL, Vol. 8, no.1, p. 133-147 (2022). doi:10.5194/soil-8-133-2022.
2022
Páez Bimos, Carlos ; Villacís, Marcos ; Morales, Oscar ; Calispa, Marlon ; Molina Verdugo, Armando ; Salgado, Silvia ; de Bievre, Bert ; Delmelle, Pierre ; Muñoz, Teresa ; Vanacker, Veerle. Vegetation effects on soil pore structure and hydraulic properties in volcanic ash soils of the high Andes. In: Hydrological Processes, Vol. 36, no.9, p. e14678 (2022). doi:10.1002/hyp.14678.
2021
Shahgedanova, Maria ; Adler, Carolina ; Gebrekirstos, Aster ; Grau, H. Ricardo ; Huggel, Christian ; Marchant, Robert ; Pepin, Nicholas ; Vanacker, Veerle ; Viviroli, Daniel ; Vuille, Mathias. Mountain Observatories: Status and Prospects for Enhancing and Connecting a Global Community. In: Mountain Research and Development, Vol. 41, no.2, p. A1-15 (2021). doi:10.1659/mrd-journal-d-20-00054.1.
2020
Hoang, Huong Thi Thu ; Van Rompaey, Anton ; Vu, Kim Chi ; Nguyen, An Thinh ; Vanacker, Veerle. An application of multilevel model for the analysis of factors influencing paddy field productivity in the Northern Vietnamese Mountains. In: Paddy and Water Environment, Vol. 18, no.1, p. 153-166 (2020). doi:10.1007/s10333-019-00771-w.
2020
Chin, Anne ; Cui, Xuefeng ; Gillson, Lindsey ; Nelson, Donald ; Taylor, Mark P. ; Vanacker, Veerle ; Wang, Emilie. Anthropocene in an age of pandemics. In: Anthropocene, Vol. 20, p. 100247 (2020). doi:10.1016/j.ancene.2020.100247.
2020
Gobbi, Beatriz ; Van Rompaey, A. ; Loto, D. ; Gasparri, I. ; Vanacker, Veerle. Comparing forest structural attributes derived from UAV-based point clouds with conventional forest inventories in the dry chaco. In: Remote Sensing, Vol. 12, no.23, p. 1-23 (2020). doi:10.3390/rs12234005.
2020
Beerten, Koen ; Verbeeck, Koen ; Laloy, Eric ; Vanacker, Veerle ; Vandenberghe, Dimitri ; Christl, Marcus ; De Grave, Johan ; Wouters, Laurent. Electron spin resonance (ESR), optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and terrestrial cosmogenic radionuclide (TCN) datingof quartz from a Plio-Pleistocene sandy formation in the Campine area, NE Belgium. In: Quaternary International, (2020). doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2020.06.011.
2020
Hoang, Thi Thu Huong ; Van Rompaey, Anton ; Meyfroidt, Patrick ; Govers, Gerard ; Vu, Kim Chi ; Nguyen, An Thinh ; Hens, Luc ; Vanacker, Veerle. Impact of tourism development on the local livelihoods and land cover change in the Northern Vietnamese highlands. In: Environment, Development and Sustainability, Vol. 22, no. 2, p. 1371 - 1395 (2020). doi:10.1007/s10668-018-0253-5.
2020
Campforts, Benjamin ; Vanacker, Veerle ; Herman, Frédéric ; Vanmaercke, Matthias ; Schwanghart, Wolfgang ; Tenorio, Gustavo E. ; Willems, Patrick ; Govers, Gerard. Parameterization of river incision models requires accounting for environmental heterogeneity: insights from the tropical Andes. In: Earth Surface Dynamics, Vol. 8, no.2, p. 447-470 (2020). doi:10.5194/esurf-8-447-2020.
2020
Brosens, Liesa ; Campforts, Benjamin ; Robinet, Jérémy ; Vanacker, Veerle ; Opfergelt, Sophie ; Ameijeiras‐Mariño, Yolanda ; Minella, Jean P. G. ; Govers, Gerard. Slope Gradient Controls Soil Thickness and Chemical Weathering in Subtropical Brazil: Understanding Rates and Timescales of Regional Soilscape Evolution Through a Combination of Field Data and Modeling. In: Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, no. 6 (2020), p. 1-26 (2020). doi:10.1029/2019jf005321.
2020
Vanacker, Veerle ; Guns, Marie ; Clapuyt, François ; Balthazar, Vincent ; Tenorio, Gustavo ; Molina, Armando. Spatio-temporal patterns of landslides and erosion in tropical andean catchments. In: Pirineos : a journal on mountain ecology, Vol. 75 (2020). doi:10.3989/pirineos.2020.175001.
2020
Kemp, David B. ; Sadler, Peter M. ; Vanacker, Veerle. The human impact on North American erosion, sediment transfer, and storage in a geologic context. In: Nature Communications, Vol. 11, no.1, p. 6012 (2020). doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19744-3.
2020
Rosas Barturen, Miluska Anthuannet ; Vanacker, Veerle ; Viveen, Willem ; Gutierrez, Ronald R. ; Huggel, Christian. The potential impact of climate variability on siltation of Andean reservoirs. In: Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 581, no.1, p. 124396 (2020). doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.124396.
2019
Bouchoms, Samuel ; Wang, Zhengang ; Vanacker, Veerle ; Van Oost, Kristof. Evaluating the effects of soil erosion and productivity decline on soil carbon dynamics using a model-based approach. In: SOIL, Vol. 5, no. 2, p. 367-382 (2019). doi:10.5194/soil-5-367-2019.
2019
Zhang, He ; Aldana-Jague, Emilien ; Clapuyt, François ; Wilken, Florian ; Vanacker, Veerle ; Van Oost, Kristof. Evaluating the potential of post-processing kinematic (PPK) georeferencing for UAV-based structure- from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry and surface change detection. In: Earth Surface Dynamics, Vol. 7, no.3, p. 807-827 (2019). doi:10.5194/esurf-7-807-2019.
2019
Bonnesoeur, Vivien ; Locatelli, Bruno ; Guariguata, Manuel R. ; Ochoa-Tocachi, Boris F. ; Vanacker, Veerle ; Mao, Zhun ; Stokes, Alexia ; Mathez-Stiefel, Sarah-Lan. Impacts of forests and forestation on hydrological services in the Andes: A systematic review. In: Forest Ecology and Management, Vol. 433, p. 569-584 (2019). doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2018.11.033.
2019
Vanacker, Veerle ; Ameijeiras Mariño, Yolanda ; Schoonejans, Jerome ; Cornelis, Jean-Thomas ; Minella, Jean ; Lamouline, Florence ; Vermeire, Marie-Liesse ; Campforts, Benjamin ; Robinet, Jeremy ; Van de Broek, Marijn ; Delmelle, Pierre ; Opfergelt, Sophie. Land use impacts on soil erosion and rejuvenation in Southern Brazil. In: CATENA, Vol. 178, p. 256-266 (2019). doi:10.1016/j.catena.2019.03.024.
2019
Molina, Armando ; Vanacker, Veerle ; Corre, Marife ; Veldkamp, Edzo. Patterns in soil chemical weathering related to topographic gradients and vegetation structure in a high Andean tropical ecosystem. In: Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, Vol. 124, p. 2018JF004856 (2019). doi:10.1029/2018jf004856.
2019
Clapuyt, François ; Vanacker, Veerle ; Christl, Marcus ; Van Oost, Kristof ; Schlunegger, Fritz. Spatio-temporal dynamics of sediment transfer systems in landslide-prone Alpine catchments. In: Solid Earth, Vol. 10, p. 1489–1503 (2019). doi:10.5194/se-10-1489-2019.